He Didn't Have to Be
by nannygirl
Summary: Steven spends some time with the man he's always considered his father, as they watch his newborn baby. Very loosely based off the song by Brad Paisley


_**Disclaimer: **__I own nothing. I do not own That 70's Show or anything that is connected to it. The song belongs to the wonderful Brad Paisley. I do not own him wither. And now I'm sad._

_**Author's Note: **__Hello All! I know I still have two other fics in the works but I couldn't resist working on this one shot. You see for Christmas I got the wonderful gift of concert tickets to see the fabulous Brad Paisley. The concert is tomorrow! So since Christmas I've been driving my family crazy listening to his songs and after hearing this one a couple of times I had to do it! I just hope the concert doesn't get canceled with the weather…Um anywoo…Please review and Enjoy!_

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He Didn't Have to Be

Steven Hyde had been standing in the same spot for several minutes.

He just couldn't tear his eyes away from the sight in front of him. It was so amazing, he couldn't believe it was true. He couldn't belie that that little pink bundle on the other side of the glass was his baby girl.

A smirk played on his lips as he watched the baby with his last name written on the bracelet on her wrist. He could have stay there watching her for hours, but he was interrupted by a familiar voice.

"Hey Hyde." The manly—yet not too manly—voice called out.

Hyde turned around to see the two Forman men walking his way. Eric had a smile on his face as he waved over, while Red frowned at Eric probably wondering how he ended up with such a dumbass son.

"Hey, man." Hyde greeted, once the men were closer, "I thought all you guys were visiting with Jackie?"

"She kicked us out." Red informed.

"Yeah." Eric nodded, "She said no one could see her until she washed her hair."

Hyde chuckled, that did sound like his wife. Shaking his head slightly, Hyde looked back into the nursery at the squirming, dark haired baby. Eric and Red soon did the same.

"She a cute one, Steven." Red complimented and Hyde nodded.

Eric frowned a bit as he watched his niece, "Hey, who do you think she looks more like? You or Jackie?"

"Are you kidding me?" Hyde asked as he turned away from his daughter and over to Eric, "Just look at her. She's beautiful. She's all Jackie."

Red smirked, "Good thing too, huh?" Red joked.

Hyde laughed slightly as Eric nodded in approval at his father's joke. Then it got quite as the men went back to looking at the newest addition to the family.

"You know, " Hyde began, "I just held her a few minute ago but… I miss her."

Red smirked and nodded, knowing exactly what Hyde was talking about. On the other side of Hyde, Eric frowned with confusion. He looked from Hyde to the nursery and then back at Hyde again.

He cleared his throat before beginning, "You know that's her right?"

Both Hyde and Red turned to the skinny man and sent him annoyed glares. Eric was quick to throw his hands up in the air, to defend himself.

"What?" he asked in a squeaky voice, "I was just making sure!"

Feeling frightened and worried abut his own wellbeing, Eric began to look around the hospital hoping to find something that could get him away. Luckily his eyes were quick to fall on a certain redhead who waved him over. Her new engagement ring sparking in the light. Without a second thought Eric jogged over to her, not even saying 'bye.'

Red shook his head as he watched his son jog off, in a slightly girly way.

"See aren't you didn't have a son?" Red questioned, "You could've ended up with a dumbass like him.

"Yeah." Hyde agreed with a laugh, "Well, not yet anyways."

Red frowned slightly at Hyde who still had his eyes on his daughter. Hyde shrugged his shoulders before going on to explain.

"Jackie wants to have more kids. I do too. I mean we're gonna wait a little, but we do wanna have more kids." He went on, "And everything's going pretty good now. We've got the house. And both of us have good jobs. I'm actually looking forward to having a bunch of kids in the house."

"Right." Red nodded, not sounding very convinced, "I'll be sure to remind you of that when you have a basement full of dumbasses."

Hyde shook his head and laughed.

Red watched the young curly haired man and couldn't help but smirk. He reached over and placed his hand on Hyde's shoulder, surprising Hyde some and causing him to look away from the glass.

"I'm proud of you, son." Red sincerely told him.

"Yeah." Hyde scoffed as he looked away again, "Let's here you say that a couple of weeks from now."

Red frowned slightly, and tightened his grip on the young man's shoulder.

"Don't doubt yourself, Steven." Red firmly began, "You've grown up a lot. You've turned into the fine man I knew you could be. Maybe even more so."

Feeling slightly bashful, Hyde kept his gaze in the nursery.

"I might've gotten my life together, Red." He said as he looked at the baby sucking on her fist, "But now I've got someone else's to take care of. I don't know how I'm gonna do it."

"You'll do just fine. You and Jackie are going to be great parents. Trust me." Red assured with a pat on the back.

"Thanks, Red." Hyde said, finally looking at the older man, "Thanks for being here too. I really appreciated it."

"Wouldn't be anywhere else." Red stated and then paused for a few seconds before shrugging slightly, "Well I would, but Kitty wouldn't let me." Hyde laughed and nodded in agreement, as Red continued , "Did get a pretty good show though."

"Yeah." Hyde smirked, "Who would've thought Jackie could break Fez's hand."

Red shook his head and chuckled, "Dumbass foreigner, should've known to stay as far away as possible from a pregnant woman in labor."

Hyde nodded again before looking back at Red. He cleared his throat, breaking the short moment of silence they had fallen into.

"Thanks again, Red." He repeated, "I'm glad at least one pair of her grandparents are here."

Red turned away from his granddaughter and frowned. He knew Jackie's parents wouldn't be here. Jack Burkhart was still in prison and Pam…well he doubted the woman even knew she was a grandmother.

"What about W.B.?" Red questioned, "He's not coming?"

"Nah." Hyde shook his head and looked back at his little pink bundle, "He's out in California. He said he'll drop by later in the week, maybe. And Edna…who knows where she is."

Red simply nodded, he knew Hyde didn't want any sympathy.

"Well they don't know what they're missing."

After a quick nod from Hyde, the two men turned their attention to little Olivia Katherine Hyde. They fell into silence again as they watched the infant squirm and begin to cry with clenched fist waving in the air.

A few seconds later Nurse Kitty Forman entered the nursery and walked over to where her grandbaby was. She saw two important men in her life, standing on the other side of the glass. She flashed them a big smile and waved before fussing over the crying baby.

Hyde smiled back and lifted his hand as a wave, but Red just shook his head.

"She's gonna spoil that kid rotten, now that you've made the kid's middle name her name."

"Yeah." Hyde agreed, "I figure it'll come in handy whenever I get in trouble with her."

Red couldn't help but laugh at his words. "Good plan."

"Thanks."

With a small smile Red watched his wife cuddle and coo at the baby. He then looked over at Hyde and saw that his eyes were gazed at the same sight he had been watching moments ago. It made him smile.

"I think I better go check on the dumbasses." Red said out loud, "Make sure they didn't break anything or unplug anyone."

Hyde laughed, "Okay, Red."

Red nodded a 'goodbye' and began to walk off. A few steps later, he turned back around as he suddenly remembered something.

"Oh and Steven." He called out, regaining Hyde's attention, "Do me a favor would you?"

"Sure."

"Tell Kitty I'm ready to leave." He said in a typical Red Forman way.

"Alright." Hyde nodded and Red took off once again.

Hyde watched Red walk off and then turned back to the nursery. He truly was thankful for Red Forman. Sure, he had W.B., but Red was his true father. Ever since Hyde had met Eric, Red had been there. He had believed in him, him and Kitty. No one had believed in him the way they had. Without them in his life, Hyde didn't know where he'd be.

And he didn't want to find out.

Now standing by himself, Hyde continued to watch the little baby in Kitty's arms. During the short time that he had looked away, Kitty had managed to quiet her down. Hyde wondered if he'd ever be able to do that.

Hyde kept his eyes on his daughter for so long, he never noticed Kitty waving at him to come in. At first he wasn't sure if she was talking to him. He looked around but didn't see anyone. She had to have meant him.

Cautiously he walked into the nursery, where he was greeted by a smiling Kitty with a happy gurgling baby in her arms. She guided him over to a rocking chair in the room and gestured for him to sit. Hyde did as he was told and then soon found himself holding his baby girl.

"I asked her if she wanted to see her Daddy and she just got so happy." Kitty explained with a smile.

Hyde smiled down at his gurgling baby. He gave her his index finger ands she quickly wrapped her tiny hand around it. Hyde smiled in amazement as Kitty giggled softly.

"She is just the cutest little baby, Steven." Kitty gushed, "With the cutest middle name."

"Yeah." Hyde laughed and then remembered what Red had said to him, "Oh hey, that reminds me. Red says he's ready to go home."

"Of course he is." Kitty said with a sigh and a shake of her head, "You know I love that man dearly, but sometimes he can be such an old grouch."

Hyde watched Kitty walk out of the room and then looked down at his little girl. She still held his finger in her hand as she yawned a tiny yawn. Once her yawn was finished she looked up and seemed to lock eyes with her father.

"Yeah." Hyde said softly, "And I hope I'm at least half the dad, that he didn't have to be."

The End

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_**Author's Note: **__There you go! Hope you liked it! _

_Until next time, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, take care, and have a nice day!_


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